COVID-19 pandemic in Saint Barthélemy

The COVID-19 pandemic in Saint Barthélemy is part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of Saint Barthélemy on 1 March 2020. The last positive case was on 31 March 2020.[2] On 21 April, the last case recovered.[3] Between 18 and 24 July, a new case was imported.[4]

COVID-19 pandemic in Saint Barthélemy
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Saint Barthélemy
Arrival date	1 March 2020 (5 months, 2 weeks and 1 day)
Confirmed cases	13[1] (2020-08-11)
Recovered	6
Deaths	0
Government website
guadelope.ars.sante.fr

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[5][6]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[7][8] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[9][7]

Saint Barthélemy is a small island with a population of 9,793 people[10] The island has a small hospital (Hôpital de Bruyn), however testing for Covid-19[11] and specialized health care has to be performed in Guadeloupe.[12][13] As an overseas collectivity crises are handled by the Prefect. The island can start testing locally in early May.[14] The current Prefect for Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin is Sylvie Feucher.

Timeline

COVID-19 cases in Saint Barthélemy  ()      Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases Mar Mar Apr Apr May May Jun Jun Jul Jul Aug Aug Last 15 days Last 15 days
Date			# of cases
2020-03-01		​	1
⋮		​	1(=)
2020-03-15		​	3(+200%)
⋮		​	3(=)
2020-03-27		​	4(+33%)
2020-03-28		​	5(+25%)
⋮		​	5(=)
2020-03-31		​ ​	6(+20%)
2020-04-01		​ ​	6(=)
⋮		​ ​	6(=)
2020-04-12		​ ​	6(=)
⋮		​ ​	6(=)
2020-04-18		​ ​	6(=)
⋮		​ ​	6(=)
2020-04-21		​	6(=)
⋮		​	6(=)
2020-07-24		​ ​	7(+12%)
⋮		​ ​	7(=)
2020-07-31		​ ​	9([15]+29%)
⋮		​ ​	9(=)
2020-08-05		​ ​	10([16]+11%)
⋮		​ ​	10(=)
2020-08-08		​ ​	13([17]+30%)
⋮		​ ​	13(=)
2020-08-11		​ ​	13([1]=)
Data sourced from guadelope.ars.sante.fr From 13 May onwards, there will no longer be daily reports by ARS, but instead a weekly report every Friday, however press releases will be issued if there is important news.[18]

March 2020

A resident of the French island of Saint Barthélemy was diagnosed with COVID-19 on 1 March. His parents on the neighbouring island of Saint Martin also tested positive.[19]

Three cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed in the French island of St. Barthélemy (St. Barts) and French Saint Martin on 1 March. The cases were confirmed by the Institut Pasteur Laboratory of Guadeloupe which is conducting tests for the virus. The case involves a resident of St. Barthélemy and his visiting relatives. The person was confined at home in St. Barthélemy and under daily surveillance while his parents are isolated in the Louis-Constant Fleming Hospital in French Saint Martin. The couple had come from Paris, France, to visit their son, who lives in Saint-Barthélemy.[11]

Containment was put in place on 15 March with limitation of outings and prohibition of swimming.

In all, 6 people were sick (3 men and 3 women). None of them developed any serious symptoms requiring hospitalization.

On 24 March, the confinement orders have been strengthened: people may only leave their house for essential travel; markets are closed; gatherings are forbidden; non-essential businesses should close.[20]

April 2020

On 16 April, after two weeks without new cases, swimming was again authorized on the beaches of the island.[21]

The last case on the island was declared cured on 21 April.[3]

As of 23 April, the Pasteur Institute in Guadeloupe have analysed 84 tests from Saint Barthélemy. Special monitoring is carried out at retirement homes (EHPAD), however no cases have been reported for the island.[22]

On 24 April, Air Caraïbes announced that flights between Saint Martin (Grand Case-Espérance Airport not Princess Juliana International Airport), Saint Barthélemy, and Gaudeloupe will be resuming as of today.[23]

On 30 April, Bruno Magras, president of the collectivity, announce that all services, including schools, restaurants, bars, sport and cultural activities will be reopen on the 11th May.[24]

May 2020

On 2 May, the Collectivity announced the arrival of local testing equipment, and will be able to test upto 16 tests per hour to prepare for deconfinement and a return of the virus. €2 million has been allocated for testing since April.[14]

On 9 May, an amendment of Michel Magras, Senator of Saint Barthélemy, to limit the quarantine to people who had tested positive, in order to resume tourism, failed to pass.[25]

Preventive measures

• The airport and port are closed.[26] Local flights have been allowed again since 24 April.[23]
• All restaurants and bars were closed, all schools were closed, and all gatherings were banned. Until the 11th of May when President Bruno Magras allowed their reopening. [26]
• All non-essential businesses are closed.[20]
• It is prohibited to leave the house except for essential journeys.[26]
• The restriction of visits to the beach and swimming have been repealed as of the 16th of April.[21]
• From 11 May onwards, schools, businesses, restaurants, bars will reopen as long as they abide to social distancing.[27]

Statistics

Second wave

Chronology of the number of active cases

First wave

Chronology of the number of active cases

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in French Saint Martin
• COVID-19 pandemic in Guadeloupe
• COVID-19 pandemic in North America
• COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory

References

1. "French side: 8 more COVID•19 cases bring active cases to 41". Saba News. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
2. "Coronavirus : 21 cas confirmés à Saint-Martin, 3 de plus en 24 heures". Guadeloupe la 1ère (in French). Retrieved 23 April 2020.
3. "Point de situation au 21 avril 2020" (PDF). Bulletin de l'ARS. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
4. "Three new COVID-19 cases on French side, one in St. Barths". The Daily Herald.sx. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
5. Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
6. Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
7. "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
8. "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
9. "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
10. "Populations légales des collectivités d'outre-mer en 2016". Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (in French). Retrieved 23 April 2020.
11. "Breaking News: Three cases of coronavirus confirmed in St. Barthélemy, Saint Martin". The Daily Observer. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
12. Nash, KC (2008). St Barts Travel Adventures. Hunter Publishing, Inc. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-58843-704-4.
13. "The World Fact Book". Introduction. CIA Fact Book. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
14. "PCR, drive, test : Saint-Barthélemy se prépare au déconfinement quasi-total le 11 mai". Outre-mers 360 (in French). Retrieved 3 May 2020.
15. "French side: Active COVID cases up to seven, ARS reports". Retrieved 4 August 2020.
16. "French St. Martin active cases now 16 after nine new cases reported". Saba News. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
17. "ARS update declares 29 active COVID-19 cases in St. Martin". The Daily Herald.sx. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
18. "No more daily reports". ARS Guadeloupe via Facebook (in French). Retrieved 13 May 2020.
19. "Coronavirus : premiers cas confirmés en Outre-mer, à Saint-Martin et Saint-Barth". Polynésie la 1ère (in French). Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
20. "French PM revises confinement measures effective March 24". The Daily Herald.sx. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
21. "LA BAIGNADE ET LES ENGINS BRUYANTS DE NOUVEAU AUTORISÉS À COMPTER DE DEMAIN". Le journal de Saint-Barth. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
22. "A Saint-Barth, 84 patients ont été dépistés depuis le 28 février". Journal de Saint Barth (in French). Retrieved 25 April 2020.
23. "Air Caraïbes resuming flights to Guadeloupe as of April 24". The Daily Herald.sx. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
24. "Déconfinement (quasi)total de Saint-Barth le 11 mai : demande acceptée par l'Elysée". Le Journal de Saint-Barth (in French). Retrieved 2 May 2020.
25. "Coronavirus: le Parlement adopte la prolongation de l'état d'urgence sanitaire jusqu'au 10 juillet". Outre-mer la 1ère (in French). Retrieved 9 May 2020.
26. "Coronavirus: Spain and France announce sweeping restrictions". BBC News. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
27. "Saint-Barthélémy : un déconfinement "total" est annoncé pour le 11 mai". Gaudeloupe la 1ère (in French). Retrieved 2 May 2020.